DEPARTMENT of Health (DOH) Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire clarified on Friday, December 18, that the Confidentiality Disclosure Agreement (CDA) between the government and Pfizer does not include the procurement of coronavirus disease (Covid-19) vaccines.
Vergeire said the CDA only includes information about the vaccine the government needs to review.
“Iyong pag-uusap sa CDA, initial negotiation iyon between the government and Pfizer para makita natin ang mga dokumento at mapag-aralan natin ang profile nila. Wala pa sa stage na magkakaroon tayo ng ganitong doses by this time,” she said in a television interview.
“Pinag-uusapan (sa CDA) kung paano nila maibibigay ang impormasyon nila para mapag-aralan ng Philippine government,” she added.
Contradicting earlier reports that Health Secretary Francisco Duque III’s inaction on the CDA cost the country a delivery of 10 million Covid-19 vaccines from Pfizer, Vergeire said the DOH did what it has to do in a timely and prudent manner.
She said the DOH, in coordination with the Department of Science and Technology and the Office of the Executive Secretary, studied the CDA especially its legal grounds and processed it “according to the processes of government.”
Duque has been in hot water after Senator Panfilo Lacson revealed that the country failed to secure the delivery of the vaccines from the American-based pharmaceutical company, Pfizer, as early as January 2020 due to the latter’s “indifference.”
Earlier, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said President Rodrigo Duterte sees no major lapse on the part of Duque.
He said Duque was instructed by Duterte during a Cabinet meeting on Wednesday evening, December 16, to directly answer the allegations against him and defend himself.
He said Duque went emotional as he explains his side before the President and other Cabinet secretaries.
“I think from the overall demeanor of the President, eh wala naman po siyang nakikita na major lapse dahil ang pinag-uusapan po ay kontrata at hindi naman po abogado si Secretary Duque,” Roque said. “At wala rin pong danyos na nangyari because patuloy pa rin po ang pagkuha natin ng Pfizer.”
The said Covid vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech along with that of Moderna pharmaceuticals, a company that is also based in the United States, has the highest efficacy rate of 95 percent among any other vaccines created, including the one from British firm AstraZeneca where the Philippines, through the private sector, was able to secure 2.6 million doses from.
AstraZeneca's vaccine has 90 percent efficacy.
The vaccines acquired by the Philippines is only good for 1.3 million people and is expected to arrive in the first quarter of 2021. The Philippine population is at 110 million.
Roque said the country was still able to procure vaccines from Pfizer and it is expected to arrive in the second or third quarter of next year.
As of December 17, 2020, there were 454,447 confirmed cases in the country in which 25,695 were active cases. The DOH said 8,850 died of the virus while 419,902 have recovered. (SunStar Philippines)